Eva Longoria as the Wasp in ‘Avengers’ movie? A building buzz

Sept. 13, 2008 | 7:42 p.m.

Eva Longoria of "Desperate Housewives" fame was photographed leaving the L.A. offices of Marvel Studios clutching a business card and some comic books in her hand. The comic book on top? That would be a copy of the Avengers.

The first thing that popped in my head when I heard this: She’s going to be Thor!

No, no, just joking. The first thought is that she wants to be Janet Van Dyne, the winsome Wasp, a founding member of the Marvel super team and eventual wife of Hank Pym, the Ant-Man.

Longoria, at least judging by her prevailing gossip-page persona, does seem to have some of the Wasp’s, um, entitlementattitude. Van Dyne was a flighty, sometimes conniving and always spoiled daughter of a wealthy scientist, and after his death she used her inheritance for world-class shopping sprees.

She pretty much had a new costume on every few pages in the comics. And in the early days, she sure was kidnapped a lot.

Her first appearance in "Tales to Astonish" No. 44 introduced her on the cover as "Ant-Man’s gorgeous new partner-in-peril," but it could have been "smoking-hot sidekick in distress."

But more than a villain’s trophy and a Manhattan social butterfly, the Wasp became an especially perceptive member of the Avengers and a key part of the team chemistry that made it less of a simple boy’s club. As the years went on, she was increasingly portrayed as the savvy woman on the team who might have a makeup mirror in her hand but was also more intuitive then a lot of the lab-coat geniuses around her.

Van Dyne could be also pretty calculating, which raises another thought: If you look at these parking-garage photos of Longoria, it sure does seem like the actress is flashing that comic book with a bit of purpose. I wonder if she is trying to stir up a bit of fan chatter that will help her lock in the role…

Comments

9 Responses to Eva Longoria as the Wasp in ‘Avengers’ movie? A building buzz

When I was reading comic books in the 70s, I seem to remember the Wasp was married to a guy who went by Yellowjacket, but I didn't read too many of their stories. I guess I followed Spider Man more closely.
I guess I can see Eva Longoria as the Wasp, but I am getting kind of tired of seeing Hollywood cast the roles of action heroine with actresses who don't look tough enough to move a couch by themselves, much less take on a gang of thugs or an evil supervillian.
Of course, all Wasp ever did was shrink down really small and zap people, so I guess it doesn't matter if she has stick arms or not.

Just seeing the cover brings back GREAT memories as a kid, getting each new comic book edition; Superman, Batman, Captain America, Fantastic Four, the Green Lantern…if MARVEL can't score huge profits, they shouldn't be in business!

To curious george:
Wasp was in fact married to Yellowjacket. Yellowjacket's real name was Hank Pym and he was the original Ant-Man and Giant-man. Pym created something called "Pym Particles" which allowed a person to grow or shrink.
Amazing I still remember this stuff :)
Eva would be a fine Wasp. With 4 or 5 heroes all sharing the screen at the same time it won't require Meryl Streep (look at the X-Men movies).

Yeah, I have read the comic there and the Wasp is NOT in it. The other comic appears to be a Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, a book aimed at a younger audience and certainly not having the wasp in it.

New Avengers Annual #2
The only main female character in that particular issue she is holding is Maya Lopez, aka Echo, born deaf, able to copy any physical movements she sees… think the Monica Dawson character from Heroes.
It seems reasonable that if she were given a comic book so she can either research her character or she if she wants to play it at all, it would stand to reason that they would give her an issue with the character in question in it. Plus, a ballet dancing, race car driving, piano playing, parcours running, butt kicking insta-martial artist would work much better on the screen than a mini bug zapper in reverse.